<h4>Chapter 16: Birds Of A Feather, Part Two</h4>


    Finn sprinted without hesitation, reaching his hand out as he came within a few meters of the yer. There was no change in the look in Finn''s eyes, staying focused on the one in front of him.


    That was when Raven realized what the n was, blind to it just as the moment came–


    A familiar axe flew through the air before being caught in Finn''s hand, retrieved without so much as a word needing to be exchanged.


    "Get that crazy bastard–gkk!" Damian shouted, coughing up blood as he sat himself up.


    Raven nced over in shock at the unorthodox disy of unison, "That''s–what?!"


    As he approached the yer, Finn wielded the axe without any sort of experience with the heavy, two-handed weapon. The first thought in his head was how heavy it was, weighing on his shoulders just from keeping it raised.


    For the first time, the expression on Raven''s face changed to one more constricted with focus as he crossed his de before spinning himself around, "--You''ll still be turned to mincemeat all the same."


    ["<i>Scale-Rending destorm</i>"]


    The monster-hunting skill allowed thenky man to spin like a top, stirring up an eviscerating wind around himself.


    Yet–


    "Grk?!"


    Finn did not back away, instead pushing forward as hemitted to swinging the heavy axe. It managed to sh into the abdomen of the much taller figure, lodging itself in.


    Though it managed to intercept the human cyclone, it came at a price as the axe-wielding arm of the bloodied youth was sliced off. A storm of shallow slices scattered across Finn''s body as well, though no wound more pivotal than his left hand being taken away.


    Despite losing a precious limb, Finn''s expression remained irond with the resolve to win, not allowing the pain to slow him down as he controlled his own reaction.


    "I see! You get it, too, don''t you!?" Raven asked with a bloodied shout, holding a smile as heughed. "As long as you "level up", you''ll recover! So long as you don''t drop dead, you cane back! That goes for only one of us, though!"


    There was ack of care for having his own stomach sliced into by the axe as Ravenughed it off, relinquishing his copied sword. Even faced with such an overwhelming situation, left on the brink of meeting with the reaper,plete focus was present in those emerald eyes of the assassin.


    "That look in your eyes. You aren''t a "little fly", are you? No, you''re a spider just like me," Raven remarked. "Which one of us will sink our fangs in the other first?"


    Finn reached with his right, grabbing onto the handle of the weapon lodged in the yer''s abdomen. Just as he grabbed it, so did Raven touch his single arm.


    "I can do this with my <i>System</i>, too," the long-haired man spoke eerily. "<i>Replicate</i>."


    Before the axe could be retrieved, Finn watched as his right arm vanished from the elbow down. It was a sudden weight disappearing from his body, at the exact same cut-off as where his other was amputated from.


    [<i>"Phantom Flow</i>"]


    Still, Finn kept himself steady as he slid back, steadying his breath through a sharp exhale as he let the pain keep him lucid.


    "I''ve disarmed you, quite literally! What will you do now, you feral beast?!" Raven taunted him while charging right at him with a vicious fit ofughter, not slowed by the axe lodged in his gut.


    While sliding back on the wave of shadows, Finn lifted both of his arms, or rather, what was left of them as he pointed the bleeding ends at the one who chased him.


    So abundantly losing blood, that very oue was something that Finn burdened upon himself for a singr purpose; a gamble that had ced his life upon.


    ["<i>Crimson Shot</i>"] [Mana: -150] [150/450]


    The arterial fluid that painted his body peeled off, coalescing along with the blood that spewed from his arms. It condensed into one point as though his limbs were used as cannons, releasing all at once–


    In the view of the yer, what burrowed through the chamber was a pir of scarlet force, ripping forth with destructive intent.


    "Bang."


    An explosion of red expanded with a violent roar as the projectile collided with its target. The foundation of the dungeon trembled in the impact, leaving a cloud of crimson in its aftermath.


    ["<i>Raven Vand defeated</i>."] [<i>"Anarch Token x5000 obtained</i>."]


    [<i>Experience Points: +55,000</i>]


    [<i>Level fifteen reached!</i>] [500/12500]


    [Assimted<i> ability from [Raven Vand</i>]: "Replicate"]


    [Assimted<i> weapon from [Raven Vand]</i>: "Bloodstained Odachi"]


    [<i>New Skill(s) Obtained: </i>"Deadly irvoyance" | "Spider Bite" | "Gale Blessing" | "Impostor"]


    Just as his consciousness flickered with the abundance of abilities bestowed upon him, strength returned to him as a warmth radiated throughout his body. He looked down at the bleeding nubs as an array of lights rebuilt his arms back to their original form seamlessly.


    "I''m safe," Finn remarked quietly, finding the wounds across his body closing.


    He made his way over to his slumped-overpanion, who was fortunately still breathing–a good sign.


    "Are you good, Damian?" Finn asked, reaching a hand down.


    Coughing up a bit, the man of salt-and-pepper hair exhaled before wearing a smile, epting the helping hand as he was brought to his feet, "--Better than ever."


    The experience was shared between them as there was no doubt that Damian had leveled up quite a bit himself, going by the fact his wounds were all healed up.


    "You pulled it off," Damian said, looking over at the red-painted area of impact at the other end of the chamber. "Seriously, you must be some kind of savant."


    "It was luck, mostly," Finn brushed off thepliment.


    "Forget that! You''re awesome," Damian said while slinging his arm around Finn''s shoulder.


    "Whatever, man," Finnughed a bit before softly pushing away.


    Though they managed to joke a little, it didn''t change the atmosphere around them; the haunting encounter they had barely managed to scrape through.


    As they ventured further into the chamber finally, the corpse of the one who fell before them still invoked a feeling of dread.


    Damian looked on the verge of tears, thoughposed himself, "Was that guy right about what he said? Is this really the kind of world we live in now?"


    The question brought Finn to a pause for a moment. Though his initial instinct was to reassure hispanion, a part of him did believe in the world''s change. It was too far gone already, perhaps impossible to return to what it once was.


    But, he did not say that.


    "We just have to keep enduring," Finn told his friend.


    For Finn himself, however, getting a taste of the dance of life and death served conflicting feelings to him; fear, yes, but perhaps some excitement as well. Nheless, he decided to bury such troublesome thoughts, focusing on what mattered now.


    Damian looked around, "Isn''t there supposed to be some kind of "boss" in a ce like this?"


    "I think <i>Raven </i>already killed it," Finn answered.


    "Oh, I see. You''re probably right," Damian responded.


    The steps at the end of the room led up to a small tform, which was now painted and burned with theplexion of blood and smoke. It was only whening across what looked to be the remnants of Raven, a charred and obliterated corpse, did both mene to a realization.


    "My axe..." Damian said.


    "My dagger," Finn added. "Damn, I didn''t think they''d get destroyed in that st, but I wasn''t really considering that."


    "Well, it was worth it. That guy was going to kill us otherwise," Damian remarked. "Right?"


    "Yeah. It had to be done. Still, we have a lot of <i>Anarch Coins </i>now, so we can buy new gear finally," Finn said, looking down at the unrecognizable body left on the ground.


    An oddugh came from Damian, sounding like a mix between a chuckle and a sob. As Finn looked over, he found the man with an expression between a smile and tears, holding his own face in his hand.


    "This is just too messed up. Talking so casually after killing somebody–looking at their body like this. Just a few minutes ago, we were damn near in pieces...You had no arms!" Damian remarked, trying topose himself. "What is wrong with this world, Finn?"


    "I don''t know," Finn calmly responded, questioning that himself. "Just the way it is now."


    "I just can''t understand how you''re so calm about this," Damian said, steadying himself as he breathed out. "Maybe I''m just slow on the uptake."


    "No, you''re the normal one here. I''m just...Anyway,e on. There should be something back there," Finn pointed out behind the tform, leading to an isted room.